Former Rwandan premier sentenced; ex-Mayor held guilty.

"Despite the indisputable atrociousness of the crimes and the emotions evoked in the international community, the judges have examined the facts adduced in a most dispassionate manner, bearing in mind that the accused is presumed innocent." With these words, among others, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in the first-ever judgement by an international court for the crime of genocide, on 2 September found Jean-Paul Akayesu guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Two days later, the Tribunal sentenced former Rwandan Prime Minister, Jean Kambanda, who had pleaded guilty to genocide charges, to life imprisonment.

Mr. Akayesu, former bourgmestre (mayor) of Taba, was indicted on 15 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II thereto. In its judgement, Trial Chamber I-Judges Laity Kama (Senegal), presiding; Lennart Aspegren (Sweden); and Navanethem Pillay (South Africa)unanimously found Mr. Akayesu guilty of 9 out of 15 counts on which he was charged and to which he had pleaded not guilty.

Specifically, he was found guilty of genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, and crimes against humanity (extermination, murder, torture, rape, and other inhumane acts). But the Tribunal also held that he was not guilty of the crimes of complicity in genocide and violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions (murder and cruel treatment) and of Article 4(2)(e) of Additional Protocol II (outrage upon personal dignity, in particular rape, degrading and humiliating treatment, and indecent assault).

In this precedent-establishing case in which genocide, as defined in the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), was interpreted for the first time by an international tribunal, the Rwanda Tribunal recalled that genocide means "the act of committing certain crimes, including the killing of members of the group or causing serious physical or mental harm to members of the group, with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial or religious group, as such".

With respect to the charges of Violations of Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocol II thereto, the Chamber concluded that a non-international armed conflict in Rwanda in 1994, and that this conflict was well within the provisions of these laws. However, it found that the Prosecution had failed to show beyond reasonable doubt that Mr. Akayesu was a member of the armed forces and that he had the authority to support and carry out the war effort.

While there was civil war between the RAF (Rwandan Armed Forces) and the RPF (Rwanda Patriotic Front) at the time the genocide occurred, the Trial Chamber concluded that this fact cannot serve as mitigating circumstances for the genocide, which was not organized only by RAF members, but also by the political leaders of the "Hutu-power" persuasion.

"There was an intention to wipe out the Tutsi group in its entirety, since even newborn babies were not spared", the Chamber stated, noting the genocide was executed essentially by civilians, including the armed militia and ordinary citizens. Above all, the Court concluded, the majority of the Tutsi victims were non-combatants, including women and children.

While conceding that massacres aimed mainly at Tutsis took place in Taba commune in 1994, the Defence argued that Mr. Akayesu was helpless because the effective power in the commune lay with the Interhamwe and, as soon as the massacres began, he was stripped of all authority and lacked the means to stop the killings. The Chamber found, to the contrary, that Mr. Akayesu, in his capacity as bourgmestre, was responsible for maintaining law and public order in the commune of Taba and that he had effective authority over the communal police. He had admitted during his trial that the inhabitants of Taba respected him and followed his orders.

He initially attempted to stop the killings of Tutsis, but later stopped trying to maintain law and order. In addition to the criminal responsibility in committing or participating in the commission of any of the crimes under the Tribunal's jurisdiction, Article 6(3) of its Statute provides that a superior is criminally responsible for the acts of subordinates if the superior knew or had reason to know that the subordinate was about to commit such acts or had actually done so and yet failed to prevent or punish such acts. The Court found that Mr. Akayesu also incited genocide by leading and addressing a public gathering in Taba on 19 April 1994, during which he urged the population to unite and eliminate what he referred to as the sole enemy: the accomplices of the "Inkotanyi" - a derogatory reference to Tutsis, which was understood to be a call to kill the Tutsis in general.

On 4 September the Tribunal sentenced Jean Kambanda to life imprisonment on six counts of genocide and crimes against humanity to which he had pleaded guilty in May. While noting that the former Rwandan Prime Minister had cooperated and was still willing to cooperate with the Office of the Prosecutor and that his guilty plea was likely to encourage others to recognize their responsibilities during the tragic events of 1994 in Rwanda and, further, that a guilty plea is generally considered as a mitigating circumstance in most jurisdictions, the Court found Mr. Kambanda's crimes carried an intrinsic gravity and their widespread, atrocious and systematic character was particularly shocking to human conscience. He committed the crimes knowingly and with premeditation; moreover, as Prime Minister of Rwanda, he was entrusted with the duty and authority to protect the population, which trust he abused. The Trial Chamber concluded that "the aggravating circumstances surrounding the crimes committed by Jean Kambanda negate the mitigating circumstances".